Metallic railway-tie



(No Model.)

S. B. WRIGHT.

METALLIC RAILWAY TIE. No. 280,110. Patented June 26, 1883.

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UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

sInNEY E. WRIGHT, oE wvnnnorrn, MICHIGAN.

METALLIC RAILWAY-Tm.

SPECIFICATIONforming part of Letters Patent No. 280,110, dated June 26,1883.

Application filed December 23, 1882.

(No model.)

To @ZZ whom, t may concern,

` Be it known that I, SIDNEY B. WRIGHT, of

`Wyandotte, in the county of ,Vayne and State of Michigan, have inventednew and useful Improvements in Metallic Railway-Ties, and I do herebydeclare that the following is a full, clear7 and exact descriptionthereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form apart of this specification.

rhe nature of this invention relates to certain new and usefulimprovements in the construction of metallic ties for railway purposes,by means of which the necessity of any baseplates is avoided, and thetie embedded in the earth being so constructed as to thoroughly compactthe earth under its entire length.

rlhe invention is fully illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich'Figure l is a cross-section of my improved tie, and Fig. 2 a topplan view. l

In the accompanying` drawings, which form a part of this specification,A represents the top of Iny improved tie, B, the two sides thereof,standing at obtuse angles to the plane of the top, and terminating infianges C, upon a parallel plane to that of the top. This describes theouter form of the tie. The inner side of I the tie is formed in theshape of an arch by thickening in curved lines at a point underneath theupper corners, a; from the lower surface ofthe iianges G to a pointdistant therefrom about one-halt' the height of the tic a portion, b,runs parallel with the outer surface of the sides B. rIhis portion b,being inclined in opposite directions, serves to press the earthinwardly before the action of the arch accrues, and to this feature Iattach especial importance. A tie thus constructed presentsbearing-surfaces upon the under side oi' the flanges G, and the earthbetween the walls B, in the progress of the tie into the ground,Agradually compacts such earth until the lower end of the curved cornersis reached, when the earth is, by `such curvature, forced toward thecenter of the tie and more thoroughly compacted there by these meansthan at any other point, this point being the one immediately abovewhich the rail and its superincumbent weight are secured. The thickeningof the cor ners by means of the curvature already de scribed givesgreater strength to the side walls, and prevents them, under anycircumstances of extraordinary weight being super-y imposed upon the topof each, from spreading apart, as such thickening, in addition to thefunction already described of compacting the earth, forms a stiffeningfor the walls in holding them in their relation to the top of thedevice. In thc top of this tie, and at proper distances from each endthereof, a hole or holes is punched through said top, to receive thebolt or bolts or other means of fastening by means of which the rail issecured to the face of the tie.

In the operation of sinking the tie into the ground, the bottoni iiangeswill be found to be the first points of resistance. In the continuanceof the operation, the inwardly-sloping side walls will be thenext pointof resistance, compacting the earth by forcing the same laterally, aswhen a wedge is driven into the ground, until the curvature is reached,when the earth will be forced both laterally between the side walls andupwardly toward the center of the t-ie, thereby forming a very solid bedfor the tie to rest upon.

I am aware of English Patent No. 1,159 of 1868, in which thevconstruction shown approaches the general form of my device; but thefeatures of importance in my invention are entirely lacking. Thesefeatures are comprised in the construction whereby the point of junctionbetween the inclines b and the arch are directly in line with thecorners or edges (t. The object of these features iu connection with thewidth of the sides B is to allow the device to be forced into thc earthuntil the arch comes into operation, without the danger of breaking thesides of the device and it will be observed that as soon as the archengages the earth the device at that point is greatly thickened orstrengthened to resist the strain.

That I claim as my invention isrlhe metallic tie forrailway purposesherein described, consisting of the body A, having sides'B, with iiangesC, the body A having an arch the outer edges of which are inline withthe edges a, and the sides B having inner parallel surfaces which form ajunction with the arch, and the sides B being arranged at such obtuseangles with the body as to strengthen the-sides by the formation ofthearch, as specified.

SIDNEY B. VRIGHT.

lVitnesses:

H. S. SPRACUE, E. W. ANDnEws.

IOO

